Safe construction



Oct. 23', 1928.

D. H. BELLAMORE ET AL SAFE CONSTRUCTION Filed June 8, 1925 o o o o oo oz .Wwww

ing the weight of the filling.

UITE STATES DAVID I-I. BELLAIVIORE, OF NEW YORK, N.

PATENT OFFICE.

Y., AND CARL P. BARTELS, OF HALMILTON,

OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE MOSLER SAFE COMPANY, OF HAMILTON, OHIO, A COR-IPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SAFE CONSTRUCTION.

Application led June 8,

This invention relates to safes, and more particularly relates to heatinsulating lhngs therefor, including the composition of such fillingsand the manner of their application.

It is well known that moisture is of great advantage in a fireproof safefilling, for the purpose of retarding heat conduction. Such moisture mayoriginate from chemically coinbined wat-er (which term includes bothwater of crystallization and water of constitution), or from free water,or from both. The percentage of combined water and free water presentusually varies with the character of the materials used. Frequentattempts have been made to utilize a filling or insulation that has verylittle or no free water, with the idea of avoiding corrosion and ofreduc- No great success has been met heretofore, however, in finding adry insulation that will resist the heat as well as one containing ahigh percentage of free water and combined water in its composition.Furthermore, dry fillings usually come in one of two classes-pressedbricks or slabs, and powdered or granulated substance. It also has beenfound that a form of insulation that will set into a solid mass orintegral body is preferable not only to the powdered or granulatedsubstance, which will hang loose in the safe wall, but also ispreferable to pressed bricks set in the wall. The reason for this isthat when a safe is subjected to a fire, the steel body expands underthe heat, forming empty pockets between the actual steel walls andtheinsulation. A dry filling will settle into these cavities, leaving theupper section of the safe almost entirely unprotected by insulation.Therefore, a powdered or granulated form of filling is very undesirable.The pressed block or brick form of insulation is also undesirable inview of the many joints where the bricks or blocks abut each other,providing passages for heat penetration, and, furthermore. it isdifficult to fit blocks or bricks back of the Corner jambs of the frontof the safe so that proper contact is made around these sections.Furthermore, bricks or blocks are costly to handle and are subject tobreakage. Therefore, it is expedient to construct an insulating fillingthat has certain inherent structural strength and that can be easilyinserted between the walls of the safe. It should combine all theadvantages of a. dry insulation 1923. Serial No. 644,090.

and the advantages of an insulation having a high percentage of moisturein combined and free water form. Evaporation of the free water shouldnot take place, but the water should be held in suspension or reserveuntil it is called upon to perform its functions under a fire test.

Accordingly, although the principal object of this invention is toprovide a safe which is highly resistant to fire and heat, one which isstructurally strong, and one which retains such qualities almostindefinitely, other objects of this invention include the provision offillings for safes, which fillings are highly resistant to penetrationby or disintegration under the influence of fire and heat, which arestructurally strong, which retain such qualities almost indefinitely,which may easily and readily be incorporated in a safe as a solid mass,if desired, and which do not have corrosive or harmful action upon thewalls of a safe in which the filling is used. Other objects of thisinvention, and certain advantages thereof, will be in part obvious andin part pointed out hereinafter.

Such a filling may assume several modified forms. It may consist of apoured-in filler, of suitable insulating material, such as cement,plaster of Paris, gypsum, or the like, which fills the space between thesafe walls in a homogeneous mass, or such filler material may be used incombination with a built-in core. Also, in either case a wall coatingmay be added or not as desired. The filler niay consist of cement mixedaccording to standard formula, or may consist of suitable insulatingmaterial combined with suitable chemical mixtures, such as ferriehydroxide, or the like, or may consist of a combination of granulescomposed of porous insulating material, such as diatomaceous orinfusorial earth combined with heat insulating material, a binder andwater. The core may comprise prepared pressed slabs of porous absorptiveinsulating material, such as diatomaceous or infusorial earth, or thelike, which slabs may or may not have been chemically treated to createa waterproof coating thereon, or the slabs may or may not have beensaturated with water and then coated with an evaporation-preventingsubstance, such as varnish, shellac, or the like. The wall coating maycomprise a solution of chemical mixtures, such as ferrie hydroxide, orthe like, with or without a suitable binder, such as varnish, or thelike. The filling may comprise any one of the modified forms of fillers,used alone or in combination with any one of the modified forms ofcores, although the use alone 0f the standard cement, untreated, is notclaimed as new. The wall coating may be used as an additional element inany one of the above fillings.

In order that a clearer understanding of our invention may be had,attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this application and illustratingl several possible embodimentsof this invention. Referring to the drawings` Fig. l is a diagrammatic,horizontal, sectiona view of a safe embodying the invention; F ig. 2 isa fragmentary section of a safe wall incorporating a filling of onetype; and Figs. 3 and 4 are similar to Fig. 2 but show llings in othermodified forms. Similar reference characters refer to similar partsthroughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the safe is of usual construction. including,as shown, outer Walls l, inner walls 2 spaced from the outer walls, andfilling 3 filling the space between the outer and inner walls.

In one illustrative modification of our invention we provide acombination filling, utilizing` a filler of suitable, poured-ininsulating` material 1l, such as cement, and a core 5 consisting ofprepared, pressed slabs or blocks of suitable porous, absorptive,insulating material, such as diatomaeeous or infusorial earth, fromwhich slabs all, or nearly all, free water has been excluded, but inwhich there is a certain/j percentage of chemically combined water. Theblocks are preferably formed under pressure, thereby causing the blocksto be compact, and to have considerable inherent structural strength.The filler may be poured into the safe between the outside and insidewalls, until the space between these walls is filled to a certain point,say one-third full, or thereabouts, and then the pressed slabs 5 may beplaced between the walls of the safe in the filler solution in such away as to form a core in the filler completely surrounded thereby. Theblocks are built to convenient size and thickness, the latter beingpreferably between twenty and sixty per cent of the thickness of thespace between the outside and inside wall of the safe. The thickness ofthe blocks may be decreased or increased according to the results it isdesired to obtain. Zhen the pressed blocks have been inserted in thefiller, if necessary, additional filler material is poured between thewalls of the safe to cover them. The opening of the safe through whichthe pouring took place is then covered up in the usual way.

Such. a filling provides a lighter weight filling than the standardcement filling as4 heretofore used, but is slightly heavier than an alldry filling. It possesses practically all of the structural strength ofan all cement filling and can be placed or inserted in the Walls of thesafe at practically no more. labor cost than an all cement filling. Thecore of compressed bricks or blocks of porous. absorptive, comparativelydry material, acts as a sponge and absorbs a very large portion of thefree water in the surrounding poured-in filler. By reason of the natureof the material and the method of' its construction it is capable ofabsorbing` several times its own weight of water. rlhe surroundingfiller material is thus left practically devoid of free water, yet itcontains a considerable quota of chemically combined water. Thiscombined water, however, will not evaporate until the filling issubjected to a temperature sufficiently high to break up the chemicalcombination, and this does not usually occur at a temperature below twohundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit. The coating of filler materialsurrounding the core impregnated with moisture absorbed from the fillermaterial thereupon acts as a blanket, retarding the natural evaporationof this moisture from the core to such an extent that the filling willlast over an indefinite period without appreciable loss of this freewater from the core, and, at the same time, the filler being practicallydevoid of free water, will not corrode the metal safe walls which are inContact therewith. When a safe thus filled is subjected to a fire, thecombined water in the cement is liberated as soon as the temperatureincreases sufficiently to break down the chemical combination, thusassisting in retarding the penetration of the heat and the breaking downof the poured-in filler. In the meanwhile, the free water held insuspension in the pressed-block core begins to exert its influence,feeding into the filler at the psychological time, and bringing intoplay the full force of this heat resist-ing moisture. In addition tothese reactions, the core of pressed material itself acts as a heatbaffle. lts composition is such that it is a good nonconductor of heatas well as a fire resistant, and in addition, it has a certain amount ofcombined water, which creates released moisture under high temperatureand which assists in preventing heat from penetrating through its body.This heat baffle assists in preserving the filler material back of thecore (next to the inside wall of the safe) and in addition, in view ofits solid construction, stops any heat penetration which may comethrough cracks, checks or shrinkage formed on the outside face of thesurrounding filler by the intense heat of a fire.

It is obvious that a filling of this nature can be inserted moresatisfactorily in safes than either a dry granular filling or a fillingmade up solely of blocks, since the filler material may be inserted intothe safe body in a semiliquid state, being easily pourable and fillingG. if i" t-he corners and pockets with a compact mass. By reason of thefiller material being poured in the safe in a semi-liquid form, thereare no crevices, cracks or joints allowing heat penetration through thewalls of the safe. 'There is a minimum danger of the iron parts of thesafe corroding because of the free water in adjacent filler materialhaving been absorbed to a lai'ge extent by the compressed absorptivecore embedded therein. Evaporation of the free water in the filling isreduced to a negligible quantity because practically all of the freewater has been absorbed by the core inside the cement, and is confinedthere by the surrounding filler material which acts as an evaporationpreventing coating about the core. Theoretically, the action of the corein absorbing the water carries to the pores of the outside surface ofthe core itself a certain percentage of the cement granulations, whichhave a tendency to form a skin and seal up the outside surface of thecoi'e after the free water has been absorbed from the cement. A fillingconstructed in this manner has practically the same amount of structuralstrength as a lilling made up of solid cement, and a great deal morestructural strength than any light-weight dry filler heretofore used.

In a second illustrative modification of our invention the filling isconstructed on-the basis of that described in the above modification ofour invention, i. e. a core 5 of pressed7 porous, insulating material,embedded in a poured-in filler of insulating material which completelysurrounds the core. This core 5, however, may be chemically treatedbefore being embedded in the filler, for the purpose of assisting informing a homogeneous skin or coating 6 over the sui face of the core toprevent evaporation of the water which the core absorbs from the filler,or which has been otherwise introduced therein, up to the time thefilling is subjected to a heat or fire hazard. In addition7 thischemical coating can be so made as to react under heat to exude itselfthrough the surrounding filler walls and to form a gelatinous orcohesive substance on the outside surface of said filler walls whichtends to fill up any cracks, crevices or shrinkage checks that mayappear under the action of intense heat, and thus to prevent thefiltration or conduction of the heat through said cracks. Furthermore,this coating tends to neutralize any hydrogen gas, which may have beenformed, as through the oxidization of the steel walls of the safe incontact with steam resulting from moisture in t-he safe Vaporizing`under high temperature.

To prepare the core and to produce said coating the core is impregnatedwith water, and also with solutions of suitable metallic salts, such asferrie or ferrous sulphate, or aluminum sulphate or the like, and isthen treated with a suitable alkaline hydroxide, such as ammoniumhydroxide. Upon removal, the block is allowed to stand until agelatinous coating 6 is formed over the entire exposed surface of theblock. It is thereupon inserted in the liquid iiller material which isbeing poured into the safe, in the manner above described. The object ofthus chemically treating the core is to provide an additional means forguarding against evaporation of the free water which the core absorbsfrom the surrounding filler, or which has otherwise been introducedtherein, so as to preserve this water over an indefinite period anduntil called upon for use under a tire or heat hazard. This chemicaltreatment will very considerably assist the insulating values of thematerials employed i. e., the filler and compressed core.

As one possible example of treatment, the compressed core may beimmersed in a five per cent solution of sugar and water for a sufficientlength of time to allow the pressed block to absorb said sugar solutionto an amount approximately not more than onethird of its absorptivecapacity, and then, preferably immediately thereafter, immersed in asaturated solution of ferrie or ferrous sulphate, and allowed to remainin this solution from 30 to 60 seconds; immediately thereafter beingimmersed in a. diluted sol ution (about 30%) of ammonium hydroxide, andallowed to remain in this solution from 30 to 60 seconds.

The introduction of the sugar solution into the core before the coatingis formed thereon accentuates and increases the absorptive power of thecore above its normal power and sufiiciently to cause the core toattract and absorb water from the surrounding iiller material throughthe gelatinous coating which is formed thereon by the above process.

In a third illustrative modiiication of our invention we provide afilling consisting of suitable insulating material l, such as cement,plaster of Paris, gypsum, or the like, in which is incorporated asuitable substance, such as ferrie hydroxide or the like, which willreact under high heat temperatures, to produce a substance that willexude from the .solid insulating material and will from a coating on theouter' surface thereof, the exuded substance preferably being so constituted that it will neutralize any hydrogen gas which may be formedand, at the same instance, will flow into and fill any heat cracks,checks or crevices which form by reason of the breaking down of theoutside Wall of the cement, and will fill any space, opening or crevicethat might be created as a result of expansion of the metal in the safeunder heat, such expansion being apt to create pockets between the metalwalls and the outside wall of the cement insulalill) tion. Furthermore,the exuded substance thus formed is preferably constituted to give off acertain percentage of moisture under high temperature and thus isadapted to enhance the heat insulating value of the filling. As onesuitable substance to be incorporated in the filler l mention ferriehydroxide, which is a precipitate of ferrie sulphate and ammoniumhydroxide. Ferrie hydroxide, under heat, Will give off moisture to acertain per cent of its Weight and, furthermore, frequently will form asubstance Which vvill exude from the filler in which it is incorporatedand Willspread on the surface thereof which is subjected to heat, thusmaterially assisting in the heat insulating value of said filling. Othermaterials, however, Will react in a similar manner when incorporated inthe filling, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.lf cement is used it may be compounded according to standard formula.rllhe combined insulating material and ferrie hydroxide. or the like,may be used alone as the safe filling, or may be used in conjunctionWith cores, such as 5, of suitable material disposed therein.

A mixture of ferrie hydroxide, or similarly reacting substances, and a|binder, such as a quick-drying varnish, applied to the inside iron orsteel Walls of the safe structure, in combination with a cement orother' heat insulator, mixed with ferrie hydroxide, or similar material,Will secure similar results to those just described. The purpose of socoating the inside Walls of the safe with ferrie hydroxide, or similar'material, is to insure a more positive and a more extensive coating ofthe substance Which results from the reaction under heat. rlhe saidmaterial may be applied as a slushing, as at 7, Fig. 3, which may bequite thick, or merely in the form of a coating, as at 8, Fig. 4. Thebinder is unnecessary except to secure adhesion to the surfaces desiredto be coated.

In another modification of our invention We provide a filling comprisinga combination of cement or other similar fire insula tion, and a core ofpressed blocks of diatomaeeous, infusorial earth or other porousinsulating materials such as are described in connection Wit-h themodification first mentioned, except that the pressed blocks are firstimpregnated with Water, until the blocks have taken up the full capacityof Water that they are capable of absorbing, and then the blocks arecoated With aA suitable substance or substances, such as heavy shellacor varnish or other preparation which, on drying, vill form a Waterproofcoating over the blocks or core. After such treatment, the coated blocksare immersed in a plastic filler of cement, or the like, containedbetween the Walls of the safe, and the free Water contained in thefiller is evaporated therefrom by means of constant heat, such as anoven heat, applied on the outside, Which heat should be lower than themelting point of the shellac or other coating on the core but ofsufficient degree and of sufficient length of application to insurepractically all of the free Water, or at least all of the harmful freeWat-er, being evaporated from the surrounding filler Walls. The purposeof this construction is first to concentrate a given amount of freeWater in the core as a reserve supply to be called upon when theinsulation is subjected to a heat or fire test; second, to evaporate thefree Water from the surrounding cement to insure a dry condition andprevent corrosion of the metal parts of the safe which are in contactWith the filler; and thirdly, to reduce the Weight to some extent.Moreover, by confining the free Water in the core under a protectivecoating, and by covering the core With the filler, said Water willremain in the filling indenitely and Will not be subject to evaporationsuch as takes place even under normal conditions, when the Water is inthe cement. rihe filling combines these three important features; i. e.,it is practically dry, fairly light in Weight, and will last over anindefinite period Without appreciable impairment of its excellent fireinsulating efficiency. It has been found that a compressed block of dryinsulated material, such as diatomaceous or infusorial earth, or similarsubstance, will absorb several times its Weight of Water, and that bycoating such a satura-ted block With a Waterproof substance, such asheavy varnish or shellac, the block Will be impervious to evaporationover a. protracted period of time. llVhen a filling of the characterjust described is subjected to a. fire or heat, the high temperaturewill cause a breaking down of the coating and Will liberate free Waterpreviously held in suspension in the block, which water will exert itsinfluence as a heat resistant throughout the Whole mass of insulation.

In a further modification of this invention We provid-e a fillingconsisting of a combination of granules consisting of diatomaceous orinfusorial earth or other suitable material, and a certain percentage ofeither gypsum, cement or other heat insulators, functioning as suitablebinders, these materials being mixed with Water to form a semi-liquidcomposition, the granules, however, being first treated chemically Withferric hydroxide or other similar agents. Filling material compounded inthis manner can be prepared easily and can be poured in a plastic orsemiliquid condition between the Walls of a fireproof safe or otherfire-resisting structure, and Will produce a filling havingfire-insulating characteristics similar to those referred to in thesecond modification described above. Such a filler is shown at 9, Fig.4.

The above illustrative modications are by no means the only combinationsof the above fillers, cores and Wall coatings that may be had. It isobvious that the filling may comprise a Wall coating in combination withany one of t-he lillers above described used either alone or With anyone of the cores above described. Also any one of the above fillers maybe used with any one of the cores Without a Wall coating. Any one of thefillers may be used Without a wall coating or without any of the cores,and, if it is desired to provide a filling consisting of cores Without aller, any of Vthe above described cores may be used therefor either withor Without a Wall coating.

For the above purposes it has been found suitable to use for the variousfillers hydraulic cement, which is a composition of suitable grades ofcements, such as Louisville or Lisbon, but it is to be understood thatthis invention is not limited to the exclusive use of cement, sinceother heat insulating materials, such as gypsum or plaster of Paris, orthe like, Will serve as Well. rIhe term impregnated as used hereincovers both saturation and less than saturation.

As many changes could be made in the above construct-ion and manyapparently Widely dierent embodiments of this invention could be madeWithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What We claim is:

1. In safe construction, a filling including a core embedded in heatinsulating material, said core containing moisture and having a surfacecoating preventing loss of moisture from the core under normaltemperatures.

2. In safe construction, a filling including a core embedded in heatinsulating material, said core of compact pieces of heat insulatingmaterial, containing moisture and having a surface coating preventingloss of moisture from the core underl normal temperatures.

3. In safe construction, a filling including a core embedded in heatinsulating material, said core of compact pieces of heat insulatingmaterial, containing moisture in the free state and having a surfacecoating preventing loss of moisture from the core under normaltemperatures.

4. In safe construction, a filling including a coreegmbyeddedLinheatinsulating material,

the core containing moisture and painted With a Waterproof substance,such as shellac.

5. In safe construction, a iilling including a core embedded in heatinsulating material, said core also being of heat insulating materialchemically treated to have increased capacity for absorbing moisture,the core being saturated With moisture and having a surface coatingpreventing evaporation of moisture from the core under normaltemperatures.

6. In safe construction, a iilling including Compact blokaefdiateinaseassarthcseated with a waterproofsubstance and embedded incement.

7. In safe construction, a filling comprising a core of heat insulatingmaterial chemically treated to have increased capacity for absorbingmoisture, said core being saturated with moisture, a surface coatingenveloping said core to prevent evaporation of moisture from the coreunder normal temperatures.

8. In safe construction, a filling including compact slabs embedded inheat insulating material, said slabs having a coating of a gelatinousnature on the outer surfaces thereof adapted to flovv and iill anycracks in said insulating material under abnormally high temperatureconditions.

9. In safe construction, a iilling including a core embedded in heatinsulating material. said core containing moisture, a surface coating onsaid core of such a nature as to remain in a compartively rigid stateunder normal temperature conditions to conne the moisture in said core,but adapted to fioiv and fill any cracks in said insulating materialunder abnormally high temperature conditions, liberating said connedmoisture.

This specification signed this 14 day of May, 1923.

DAVID H. BELLAMORE. This specification signed this 14th day of May,1923.

CARL P. BARTELS.

